Group will be touring Springwater Park on Friday
Note: Park tour starts at 10 a.m. Friday
SPRINGWATER TWP. – A historical look at Springwater Provincial Park may remind people why it’s worth keeping.
Ontario historian John Bacher and his wife, Mary Lou Bacher, will be touring the park Friday, after John gives a presentation about its historical significance Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Barrie City Hall.
“Springwater Park used to be a bleak and barren landscape, made up of mostly sand,” Bacher said. “The park was created as a demonstration of what could be done with a wasteland.”
In 2011, Bacher and his wife biked from the Agricultural College at Guelph University to former premier Ernest Charles Drury’s farm — who was Ontario’s provincial leader from 1919 to 1923 — in Crown Hill. Their ride mirrored the path Ontario Forester Edmond Zavitz travelled in 1905 to persuade politicians, like Drury, to develop a strategy for reforesting the province.
Bacher said Zavitz’s ride began the One Billion Trees drive, when the province grew its forested land from only 8% to 20%.
“Springwater Park is the sort of inspiration that causes other people to do reforestation in other places, such as Grey County and Dufferin County,” he said.
Plans by Ministry of Natural Resource (MNR) officials to close the 193-hectare park north of Barrie have been met with opposition by several area groups including Les Stewart of the Springwater Park Citizen’s Coalition and Ian Taylor of Friends of Springwater Provincial Park, who’ve been gathering signatures for their petition at the park on Sundays for the past few weeks.
On Sunday, Stewart has asked residents to join First Nations activists to attend the park for a round dance celebration at 2 p.m.
MNR staff have met with Springwater Township and Simcoe County officials to discuss the park — which will shift from operational to a non-operational park at the end of the month — and possible options to keep it open for one year to give residents a chance get involved.
As of March 31, the park will remain a protected area, but with no vehicle access.
People can continue to walk in and enjoy the park for day use, free of charge.
MNR officials have said no part of the park will be sold.
Leave a Reply